Ohalo II
Coordinates: 32 ° 43 ′ 19.5 " N , 35 ° 34 ′ 19.7" E
Ohalo II is an early Epi-Paleolithic site in Israel . It was a settlement whose age could be determined at around 18,500 to 20,500 years. The site is on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and was apparently flooded shortly after it was abandoned, resulting in excellent conservation of organic remains.
Age
The reference dated 14 C cal. 20500-18500 BP , which corresponds to 18550-16550 v. BC, i.e. in the last glacial maximum .
nature
The settlement, which was inhabited all year round, consisted of a row of six oval huts, each made of three thin branches, which emerged as dark discolorations. The floor of the 3 to 5 m tall huts was covered with grass. Outside there were fireplaces where flint processing took place. There was also a grave and a kind of garbage dump. Since the huts were ultimately destroyed by fire, possibly to clear out parasites, the artifacts and remains are unusually well preserved.
The plant remains show the wide range of plants that were collected, including wild grain, acorns and nuts. The same applies to the archaeozoologically usable remains, of which hundreds have been identified.
In 1991 the grave of a man was found who was obviously seriously ill and could not move an arm. Since he lived in the village for a long time, a considerable amount of care must have been taken at that time, as he was obviously unable to do this himself.
Digs
The site was discovered in 1989 when the water level was extremely low and has since been excavated by a team from Haifa University . Excavations are only possible when the water level is low (dry years). Until 1989 she was constantly about 2 to 3 m under water. The site is about 1500 m², of which 325 m² were excavated until 1994.
literature
- Dani Nadel, Israel Hershkovitz: New subsistence data and human remains from the earliest Levantine Epipalaeolithic . Current Anthropology 32/5, 1991, 631-635.
- Mordechai E. Kislev, Dani Nadel, Israel Carmi: Epipalaeolithic (19,000) cereal and fruit diet at Ohalo II, Sea of Galilee, Israel . Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 73, 1992, 161-166.
- Dani Nadel, Avinoam Danin, Ella Werker, Tamar Schick, Mordechai E. Kislev, K. Stewart: 19,000 years-old twisted fibers from Ohalo II . Current Anthropology 35/4, 1994, 451-458.
- Dani Nadel, Israel Carmi, Dror Segal: Radiocarbon dating of Ohalo II: archaeological and methodological implications . Journal of Archaeological Science 22/6, 1995, 811-822.
- Dani Nadel, Ella Werker: The oldest ever brush hut plant remains from Ohalo II, Jordan Valley, Israel (19 ka BP) . Antiquity 73 1999, 755-764.
- Dani Nadel, Udi Grinberg, Elisabetta Boaretto, Ella Werker: Wooden objects from Ohalo II (23,000 cal BP), Jordan Valley, Israel . Journal of Human Evolution 50/6, 2006, 644-662.
- Dani Nadel, Ehud Weiss, Orit Simchoni, Alexander Tsatskin, Avinoam Danin, Mordechai Kislev, Kent V. Flannery: Stone Age hut in Israel yields world's oldest evidence of bedding . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101/17, 2004, 6821-6826.
- Ehud Weiss, Wilma Wetterstrom, Dani Nadel, Ofer Bar-Yosef , Bruce D. Smith: The Broad Spectrum revisited: evidence from plant remains . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101/26, 2004, 9551-9555.
Web links
- Ohalo II , with detailed literature list and list of 14C data, archive.org, May 8, 2008
- Lisa Krause: Galilee's Receding Waters Reveal Stone Age Camp , National Geographic News, Jan. 2, 2001
Individual evidence
- ^ Dani Nadel, Ehud Weiss, Orit Simchoni, Alexander Tsatskin, Avinoam Danin, Mordechai Kislev, Kent V. Flannery: Stone Age Hut in Israel Yields World's Oldest Evidence of BeddingStone Age Hut in Israel Yields World's Oldest Evidence of Bedding . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , Vol. 101, No. 17, 2004, 6821-6826.
- ^ Dani Nadel, A. Danin, Ella Werker, Tamar Schick, Mordechai E. Kislev, K. Stewart: 19,000 years-old twisted fibers from Ohalo II . Current Anthropology 35/4, 1994, 451.